CHAPTER FIVE #2
“Come on,” she said, and led me back out into the bright sunshine.
I squinted a little. It wasn’t dark in Sugar, but it hadn’t been bright, either.
We walked down the sidewalk to the next business.
They all looked the same from the outside, so it was wild knowing that such different things went down inside them.
I wondered if the people who ate at Salt knew there was a sex club a few doors down from where they were sitting.
Carmen pushed the door open, and I gasped as we walked in.
Sugar was fancy, but it had nothing on Cayenne.
There were enormous chandeliers, upscale couches and tables were set up in more than one area, the walls were medium charcoal gray, and there were several expensive-looking rugs in each of the sitting areas.
The dark floors were the same tile as Sugar and polished to a shine.
There were two fancy bars, with lots of wrought iron designs on the sides and on the stools.
A wide hallway took up the space between the two bars, and I wondered where it led.
There were stages at either end of the large room, and I wondered if people had sex on them in front of everyone.
My eyes must have been wide, because Carmen laughed. “Not what you were expecting, huh?”
“Nope. Do people… fuck on the stages?” I lowered my voice because it was quiet inside the club. I didn’t see the people she’d said would be cleaning, and I wondered where they were.
“Yes. We have a lot of members who have performance kinks and even more who are voyeurs.”
I nodded, glad I knew what a voyeur was. “What about down there?” I pointed to the hallway.
“There are several rooms down that hallway where people go to enjoy each other, often in groups.”
“Oh. Why is the hall so wide?”
“Do you want to see?” she sounded amused. I was almost afraid to say yes. She started walking before I could respond, so I hurried to catch up with her.
The hallway was long and dark, with several doors and very large windows on each side.
Carmen gestured to one of the windows. “This is so people can stand out here and watch whatever is happening in the room.”
“Oh.” I looked around. “That’s why the hall is so wide? So people have room to stand and watch?”
“Yes.” She gestured towards a staircase that was almost entirely concealed. “There are a few private rooms upstairs, as well as more public rooms and Nico’s office.”
“But I won’t be working here?”
“No. If we let hostesses or strippers from Sugar work here, it might not be fair.”
I frowned. “Why?”
A deep, low voice answered, and I almost jumped out of my skin. “Because no one would fuck the female members. They’d all want to fuck the girls from Sugar instead.”
I stared at the man talking. He was huge.
He must have been at least six-five, and he was very muscular.
He was also gorgeous. I could tell immediately that he was Carmen’s brother.
They had the same black hair and olive complexion, but where her eyes were a deep brown, his were bright blue.
He must have just come from working out, because he was wearing athletic pants and a fitted T-shirt.
I could see that he had tattoos covering one of his arms, some that extended up part of his neck, and even some on his hands.
He had an energy coming from him that made me nervous.
It was like he was barely restraining himself from acting on impulses or something.
Whatever it was, he came off as a very intense guy. Scary, even.
“Nadine, this is my brother Nico.”
“Hi,” I said, and waved.
He flashed Carmen a quick, bemused look. “Hello, Nadine.”
“Hi,” I said again, like an idiot.
He ran a hand over his mouth and jaw, but it did nothing to hide the grin on his face. “She’s new?” he asked his sister.
“Clearly,” Carmen sighed. “I’m just showing her around.”
I heard someone coming down the stairs, and another tall, muscular man came into view.
A guy with wet, dark blond hair was adjusting his tie and buttoning his cuffs as he jogged down the stairs. He was… insanely hot. He was wearing a suit, and looked as if he must have just gotten out of the shower.
“Hey, man, I’m going to need to cut out and get back to the office…” his voice trailed off as he saw Carmen and me.
My eyes locked with his for a second, and I was hypnotized. I’d never seen eyes like his before. They were a blue-gray color that looked as if they would change depending on what he was wearing.
We stared at each other without saying a word, and I started to feel awkward.
“This is Reynolds,” Nico said as he gave his friend a look like he was surprised by how he was acting. “Normally, he can speak.”
The man named Reynolds just blinked.
“What are you going to be doing for us, Nadine?” Nico asked. He frowned at Reynolds.
“I’m not totally sure yet…” I said, glancing at Carmen.
Carmen stepped in. “Nice to see you, Reynolds. At least you take a shower after you work out, unlike my pig of a brother.”
Nico laughed. “Fuck off, Carmen. I had to leave Saffron to help Reynolds with something. I’m going back to work out some more in a minute.”
Both Nico and Carmen looked at Reynolds expectantly, as if waiting for him for him to say something.
He didn’t. He just kept looking at me. His eyes scanned over my body in a leisurely way that made me feel warm in places that had never heated up quite so fast, even with Mark.
“Anyway,” Carmen shot a look at Reynolds, who ignored her. “I’m going to have her hostess first, then possibly dance, but I have my eyes on her for the next auction.”
Nico cocked an eyebrow. “So soon?”
Carmen nodded. “I’ll explain another time.”
He took it in stride. “Well, it’s nice to have you here, Nadine.” He looked me over and grinned. “You’ll fit in very well.”
“Hands off,” Carmen said. “I have very specific plans for her.”
Nico smirked. “That doesn’t mean Nadine and I couldn’t have a little fun together first…”
“Oh, yes, it does.” Carmen grabbed my arm. “Let’s go, Nadine. You’ll see Nico again later.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Reynolds. “Nice to meet y’all.” He just stared at me, the look on his face intense.
Nico’s deep laughter followed us as we walked back towards the main room of Cayenne.
“Your brother was nice,” I said lamely, mainly because I couldn’t think of anything to say.
Carmen snorted. “Nadine, if you came away from that conversation thinking my brother was ‘nice’ then you’re worse off than I feared. Stay away from Nico, honey. He’s not who you’re looking for, believe me. In fact, make sure you avoid all my brothers.”
I gulped. She was making me nervous.
“What about the other guy? Reynolds?”
Carmen got a tiny frown between her eyes.
“Yeah, I don’t know. That was weird. Reynolds is normally one of the most personable people I know.
” She shrugged. “He didn’t act like he usually does, that’s for sure.
But don’t worry about him, Nadine. He doesn’t come to Sugar very often.
He mainly just works out with Nico at Saffron.
Oh, and Cayenne. He goes to Cayenne a lot.
Although he has a girlfriend for once, so I’m not sure if he’s still doing that. ”
I just nodded since I didn’t have a clue what to say to that.
There had been something about Reynolds that had made me feel tight in my skin.
Like something had been about to happen between us, but I had idea what it was.
I was making a mountain out of a molehill, though, as Mama always said. It was more than likely nothing.
Although, the look in those pretty eyes of his didn’t seem like nothing.
“Like I said,” Carmen changed the subject, “you won’t be coming in here. Let me show you Cinnamon, and then we can go back to my office at Sugar. I’ll order in some food for lunch while we talk.”
As we walked out, I asked, “Is this club called Cayenne because it’s the spiciest?”
“Obviously.”
I followed her out after taking one last look around.
I never would have thought it was a sex club.
It was so beautiful and refined-looking.
The warm feeling in my lower abdomen I got when Reynolds’ eyes raked over me returned as I conjured up mental images of beautiful people having sex on the stage.
I almost wished I’d work in here for a couple of nights just to take in the sights.
Carmen clicked down the sidewalk and pulled open the door to Cinnamon. “This,” she said as I followed her inside, “is a gentleman’s club. Nico and I designed it to be like White’s or Boodle’s in London.”
I didn’t have a damn clue what she was talking about, but I didn’t want to admit it. I just nodded as I looked around, but I made a mental note to look up those names when I got back to Cinnamon House.
This club was decorated primarily with dark, highly polished wood.
The floors, the bars, the tables, and even part of the walls were all covered in the same rich mahogany wood.
Large circular tables were everywhere, and there were two long bar height slabs that ran the length of the room.
There were stools with burgundy leather upholstery and intricate wrought iron designs on them lined up underneath.
There had to be enough seating for a couple of hundred men, if not more.
Two enormous bars were at each end of the room.
“Wow. A lot of people could fit in here,” I said.
“Yes. The guys come here to talk, drink, play cards, discuss business, and who knows what else before the night gets going. And they come back after they’re done with the night’s activities.
The only women you’ll find in here are hostesses and bartenders.
I don’t think this is the right place for you, though.
” She glanced around. “This club is sexist as hell. But I try not to think about it. That’s a lot easier to do when their yearly membership fees hit the bank account,” she winked at me.
“Do all the members belong to all the clubs?”